Devonte and the Miracles...

LOL, that's probably sacrilegious (in light of Danny and '88), but it's hard to argue that that isn't the headline for today's huge win.

It was definitely a team win, but man, oh man, it took a lights-out, ice-water-in-his-veins, breakout game by Graham to pull this one out. Time after time after time, he came up SO clutch with his three-bombs and shots. And this from a guy who you would've thought would've had no legs left to make any shots, what with chasing Hield around and sticking on him like glue all game long.* Talk about an MVP performance in every sense of the word--on both ends of the court and as the assassin that willed the team to a win.

No, it wouldn't have happened without his teammates, but Graham's game today was nothing short of stunning. And certainly a surprise development in terms of its magnitude.

It's nice to see different players stepping up routinely for KU to get them to their wins. To think that we have this kid for another couple of years to boot is really nice... Way to go, DEVONTE!

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* Footnote: Those on the board know by now that, when I call someone out for something (bad) and he proves me wrong, I openly and happily eat crow. Today Graham did that with his defense. Lately, I've taken to calling his D against fast penetrators "matador D," because I've seen guys blow by him so much. Today, it was Greene in the matador role, while Graham locked down Hield. Now, I will say that Hield is more of a post-up shooter type than a flash-slash penetrator (which is more of a matchup problem for Devonte), but still--gotta give the kid credit for shutting down the top player in the land. And then some!

Agreed. Self said the strategy was to play "under him." And I think that Bilas was onto something when he said the book is out on Hield in terms of his tendencies when the ball is in the left vs. right hand. Graham seemed to know what well (per the KU scouting report) and executed nicely on that, which is anything but easy on a talent like Buddy.

I thought Self's strategy of having three guys get back on defense (instead of two) during KU shots and contested rebounds on the offensive end was really smart as well, as another way to stem Hield's forward momentum.

Our help D was also pretty good vis-a-vis Hield. I recall a really nice help play by Bragg that forced a TO. As for Brannen's help D...ummm, not so much. He tended to overplay on help, getting too far off his primary man, leaving him open for the dish from Hield on a few occasions.

Overall, that's one of the better team defensive games all year for KU--especially when you consider the explosiveness of the foe and it being on their home court. We held them to 33% shooting overall (well below their average), 31% on 3PFGs (well below their average), and out-rebounded them 38-36, winning what Self values highly as the "toughness" game.

As for individual player grades on defense (and DEFENSE only), I'd go with the following:

Graham: A+ (Yes, Hield got 24, but 9 of those were free throws, and Graham clearly gave him major fits all night long)

Mason: A (Did a nice job neutering Woodard, who went 3-12. Also picked up his typical 5 rebounds--dude is a stud rebounder for a little guard)

Seldon: C- (Gave up 21 to Cousins, who schooled Wayne several times. Seemed to get so flummoxed by his own poor shooting night that he didn't give max effort on D. Victim of some notable blow-by's by Cousins. Not an impressive night or effort performance, especially in such a key game)

Ellis: B (Held his own in the paint, grabbing 5 defensive rebounds, blocking a shot, and teaming with Landon to limit Lattin and Spangler to 9 cumulative points)

Lucas: B+ (Did a nice job taking up space, disrupting some shots, limiting finishes on drives, playing with good aggression, and rebounding--although he garnered 6 offensive rebounds to 4 defensive. Some might point to OU's 15 offensive rebounds as a demerit for Lucas--and Ellis--but in reality many of those were long-bounceout rebounds to OU guards: witness Spangler and Lattin only got 6 offensive rebounds. That's a little more than you'd want, but the B+ holds for the full-game performance)

Greene: D (Love the kid's ability to make shots, but he was simply horrid on D. No matter who he was matched up against, the opposing player continuously--and I do mean continuously--blew by Brannen in the most effortless way. I don't know why this is so hard for Brannen to learn. He plays too high--i.e., doesn't sit down in his defensive stance. He doesn't get wide enough with the feet. He doesn't slide laterally well at all. And he seems to be focusing on the ball handler's eyes or the ball itself, rather than on the chest or navel--which is a sure way to get beat off the ball like a rag doll. Along with this, his help D is bad--as noted above, he typically overcommits, then leaves his primary man wide open. That's okay if the latter isn't a good shooter, but in OU's case the guy he left open was almost always a good shooter! On the plus side, the kid is a decent rebounder, so his 4 DREBs keeps him from getting an F.)

Diallo: B (He played to his role. Being a presence near the rim and skying to grab rebounds. In just 7 minutes on the floor, he grabbed 4 DREBs. Good performance in that role. And I'll forgive the morbid outlet pass overthrow since that's in transition to offense!)

Bragg: B (He only played 3 minutes, so there's not much to grade on. But that help D on Hield, cited above, was a really important play.)

Traylor: B- (In 11 minutes, he grabbed 2 DREBs. Played with energy. Didn't get out of position much, as I recall. B- because you'd like to see a couple more rebounds for a big in that amount of playing time. But not a big demerit--just a quiet night.)

My $.02, FWIW...

It would've been a D- if I'd included offense in the mix. With Wayne, the two co-mingle a lot. But whereas most coaches want their players to derive energy and confidence from their D, then translate that onto the offensive end, Wayne typically flows the other way around. And for him, that specifically comes down to whether he's knocking down 3s or not. If he isn't, as was true last night and in his abysmal game vs. the Grapes, he has a tendency to shrink on D and he can become very passive. Last night, he wasn't as bad as he was against the Grapes in terms of horrible body language, taking defensive plays off, etc. (Recall Self calling him out for a very bad game that night, and Selden pushing Self's arm out of the way during one huddle) Still, last night he was not very good, and he was allowing his poor night from behind the arc to affect his overall game. With his build and athleticism, you'd think he'd develop more of a 2PG game, including off the drive, but he only features that once a game (if that), typically.

Selden is a gifted guy, but he could be so much better if he unleashed his full game, didn't get caught up in selfish "me" tracking so much (3-point shots), and brought fire and want-to on every single possession in every single game. As Senex rightly noted in another thread about Wayne, he's unfortunately playing himself out of the draft this year--which is bad for him, arguably good for KU next year (his likely return), but arguably bad for KU making a deep run this year if he keeps it up (per Senex and Illhawk comments on that score).